Flying from Philadelphia to Edinburgh, Scotland, in an Airbus A321neo isn’t a typical route American Airlines flies on that aircraft, but during September, it was an incredibly important one.

Flying across the North Atlantic is nothing new for American, but it will be something new for American’s pilots who fly the Airbus A320 fleet (Airbus A319/A320/A321/A321neo).

Starting next year, the airline will enter the Airbus A321XLR — an ultra-long-range version of the A321neo — into trans-Atlantic service.

The A321XLR has a range of up to 4,700 nautical miles, opening up a world of new opportunities for American and its network.

Of course, it also means new procedures and regions of the world for the airline’s pilots to learn.

During September, American conducted a series of 42 flights between the two cities for a group of check pilots to be trained and qualified to operate over the North Atlantic.

From there, they’ll train American’s A320 line pilots on the territory, initially from the New York pilot base.

Several of these flights involved Federal Aviation Administration inspectors so the initial eight check pilots could be qualified. After that, the first group of check pilots qualified the rest of the group.

“These training flights were a huge success,” said American’s A320 fleet captain, Capt. Josh Hall.

“This effort sets us up nicely to begin training our line pilots to fly the A321XLR over the North Atlantic, and it was only made possible by the hard work and professionalism of our check pilots, the FAA and our A320 flight training and fleet technical teams.”

More details about American’s A321XLRs will be shared soon according to the carrier, including the new aircraft type’s initial international destinations.